Knowledge

[sic] is the name of a series of conferences on trends in the Information and Knowledge Society. Our conferences take place once per month and are designed to discuss current issues about the Information Society.  
[sic] is an initiative by the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (JRC- IPTS) and the Junta de Andalucía (CEICE).
In this context, Debates [sic] aims at contributing to the discussion by offering a plural and enriching debate on selected topics. We will invite experts and professionals from fields as diverse as public participation, the health, education or technology, to discuss with you social relations and the challenges involved.

We have come through a period of unprecedented growth in research activity in Ireland. New funding agencies Science Foundation Ireland and the two research councils emerged between 1998 and 2006. The Higher Education Authority’s Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions (PRTLI) brought about closer research collaboration across the higher education sector and supported the modernisation of our research infrastructure. Read more...

6th International Barcelona Conference on Higher Education "Let’s Build Transformative Knowledge to Drive Social Change", May 13-15 2013, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Campus Nord, Vértex building, Pl. Eusebi Güell, 6 - 08034 Barcelona.
This edition is focused on Knowledge, Engagement & Higher Education. The Conference will provide visibility and will critically examine one of the most significant trends: the growth of the theory and practice of engagement as a key feature in the evolution of higher education.
In the Conference, GUNi aims to approach the challenge of engagements by higher education institutions in the larger society in an integrated manner: it will explore ways in which engagement enhances teaching, learning and research; it will approach engagement in ways that accept the multiple sites and epistemologies of knowledge, as well as the reciprocity and mutuality in learning and education through engagement.
In exploring this contemporary issue, the Conference will attempt to describe how university-community engagement is evolving nowadays and will propose to go beyond by offering new visions and ways for the future. GUNi invites the international academic community to jointly analyze how to build transformative knowledge to drive social change. You are cordially invited to attend Conference or nominate the member(s) of your institution. In this space you can find information regarding the conference, as well as details of its programme and contents.
Presentation
The 6th International Barcelona Conference on Higher Education and the 5th GUNi Report are focused on Knowledge, Engagement & Higher Education. They will analyze how to build transformative knowledge to drive social change. In exploring this contemporary issue, the Report and the Conference will attempt to describe how it is evolving nowadays, and will propose to go beyond the narrow and compartmentalized approach to engagements of higher education by offering new visions and ways for the future.
In the Conference, GUNi aims to approach the challenge of engagements by higher education institutions in the larger society in an integrated manner: it will explore ways in which engagement enhances teaching, learning and research; it will approach engagement in ways that accept the multiple sites and epistemologies of knowledge,
as well as the reciprocity and mutuality in learning
and education through engagement.
The Conference will look at our changing understanding about who the agents of knowledge creation are, and how the creation, distribution and use of knowledge are linked to our aspirations for a better world.  It will offer us elements of a vision for a renewed and socially responsible relationship between higher education (HE), knowledge, and society. It will also take into account the current conceptualization of the role of higher education in the process of knowledge production.
In this sense, one aim of the Conference is to call upon policy-makers, leaders and practitioners of HEIs around the world to ‘rethink’ social responsibilities of higher education and to become a part of a hub of societal innovation. We aim to move towards a more just, equitable and sustainable planet over the next decades. Thus, the Conference hopes to present experiences and ideas that suggest directions for transformation of higher education (and its diverse institutions) to exercise its social responsibility to citizens and societies locally and globally.
The other aim of the Conference is to provide visibility and to critically examine one of the most significant trends in higher education over the past 10-15 years: the growth of the theory and practice of engagement as a key feature in the evolution of higher education.
Facilitating socially engaged universities is paramount to the necessary creation of knowledge. The practices and structures of engagement are rich and continually evolving. Some scholars speak of a Community-University Engagement movement (Talloires; Holland, 2005), of service learning (Campus Compact; McIlraath and Mac labhrainn, 2007), of community-based research (Strand et al, 2003a/b), of engaged scholarship (Boyer, 1996; Fitzgerald et al, 2012), of community-university research partnerships (Hart et al, 2007; Hall, 2011), and of knowledge mobilization and its variants, such as knowledge translation, impact or utilization (Levesque, 2010, blog).
GUNi invites the international academic community to actively participate in the Conference in an open space to share and learn together, with the conviction that it is by taking action that we can improve real changes in education and enlarge the transformative awareness of our societies.
References
Boyer, E. L. (1996) The Scholarship of engagement, Bulletin of the American Arts and Sciences, 49(7), pp 18-33.
Campus Compact web site http://www.compact.org/.
Fitzgerald, Hiram, Karen Bruns, Steven T. Sonka, Andrew Furco,  Louis Swanson (2012) “The Centrality of Engagement in Higher Education” in Journal of Higher EducationOutreach and Engagement, 2012, 16(3).
Hall, B. et al (2011) “Towards a Knowledge Democracy Movement: Contemporary Trends in Community University Research Partnerships” in Special Issue of Rizoma Freireano on “Global Developments in Community University Research Partnerships. Vol 9.
Hart, A., Maddisson, E. and Wolff, D. (2007) Community-university partnerships in practice. Leicester, UK: National Institute for Adult and Continuing Education.
Holland, B. (2005) Scholarship and Mission in the 21st Century University: The Role of Engagement Keynote Address to the Australian Universities Quality Agency.
Forum, 5 July, Sydney Australia.
Levesque (2010) knowledge Mobilization (Retrieved from: http://bit.ly/zbPyME).
McIlrath, L. & Mac Labhrainn, I. (Eds.) (2007) Higher Education and Civic Engagement: International Perspectives. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.
Talloires Network web site - http://www.tufts.edu/talloiresnetwork/.
Side events
COPERNICUS Alliance/United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU IAS)
“The People’s Sustainability Treaty on Higher Education:  Engaging communities of learning in social change for sustainability”
A side event which will bring together COPERNICUS Alliance members, signatories of the People’s Sustainability Treaty on Higher Education and Regional Centres of Expertise in exploring innovative practices to engage higher education communities in social change for sustainability. Six months after the official launch of the People’s Sustainability Treaty on Higher Education in Rio+20, COPERNICUS Alliance and UNU IAS are delighted to co-host this side event which will set the track for progress and propose ways forward to facilitate the implementation of the Treaty. COPERNICUS Alliance members, signatories of the Treaty and Regional Centres of Expertise will come together to share their learning, challenges and successes in engaging higher education communities in social change for sustainability. The outcome of the event will be a publication which will provide key insights, frameworks and approaches on community engagement for sustainability in higher education and will showcase innovative experiences in this area.

Le dossier Emploi-pro spécial formation continue vient de sortir. Où l’on apprend comment reconnaître une entreprise formatrice. Où l’on découvre aussi comment financer un cursus quand on est salarié. Emploi-pro vient de publier un dossier spécial sur la formation continue. En 24 pages, notre rédaction fait le tour de la formation continue en France. Nos journalistes vous expliquent, par exemple, comment reconnaître une entreprise formatrice. Ce doit être, pour un salarié, l’un des principaux critères pour choisir avec soin son futur employeur. C’est un filtre au moins aussi important que le salaire. Mais il est peu souvent pris en compte. Pourtant, une entreprise formatrice permet à un salarié de se développer, de garder voire d’améliorer son employabilité. Une entreprise formatrice promeut aussi ses ressources humaines en interne. Bref, c’est une entreprise qui vous protège et vous développe. Isabelle Fagotat, dans ce dossier, met en avant trois critères assez faciles à mesurer. Pour elle, une entreprise formatrice doit consacrer au moins 3,5 % de sa masse salariale à la formation. Elle doit également former l’ensemble de ses salariés et non pas les seuls cadres de haut niveau et autres hauts potentiels. Enfin, une entreprise formatrice prend en compte au niveau salarial et de la promotion de l’employé les formations réalisées. Téléchargez gratuitement le supplément formation : Savoir reconnaitre une entreprise formatrice.
C’est un constat. La formation continue est encore peu acceptée dans notre pays. D’une part, les employeurs rechignent à prendre en compte les diplômes acquis via la formation continue. La société française privilégie la formation initiale. D’autre part, les syndicats condamnent les cursus effectués en dehors du temps de travail. Que faire ? Baisser les bras ou entrer, de gré ou de force, dans l’économie de la connaissance? La seconde solution est la meilleure. Pour les salariés. Ils vont développer leurs compétences. Pour les entreprises. Elles amélioreront leur niveau technique et, in fine, la qualité de leur production. Pour nos économies. Elles relèveront le défi des bas salaires des pays émergents en innovant. Cela ne peut passer que par la recherche et le développement.
Alors, il faut faire oeuvre d’évangélisation. Se convaincre, tout d’abord, comme salarié, que la formation continue représente un formidable levier de développement personnel. Se persuader ensuite que si son employeur n’est pas intéressé, un autre le sera. Prouver aussi à ses dirigeants que la formation continue est un outil irremplaçable pour améliorer la productivité et pour apporter de l’espoir dans les usines et les bureaux. Car, même si les employeurs, souvent relayés par les syndicats
et les salariés, ne s’en rendent pas encore compte, l’élévation du niveau de formation se révèle inéluctable. Pour concourir dans le cadre de l’économie de la connaissance, les entreprises devront former leurs salariés. Et les éduquer à haut niveau.
Aujourd’hui, à peine 30% d’une classe d’âge atteint, en France, le niveau Bac +3. Les pays les plus novateurs, comme la Finlande, atteignent des taux dépassant les 50%. Il faut les imiter. La formation continue est l’avenir d’un pays mais aussi celui d’une carrière. Alors, si votre employeur témoigne de la mauvaise volonté pour vous former, il faut prendre son destin en main. En France, pour tous les salariés, il existe de nombreuses voies à suivre pour décrocher des diplômes de haut niveau. Par exemple, les bacheliers devront viser des cursus de niveau Bac +2. Les titulaires de DUT pourront décrocher des Masters et autres diplômes d’écoles de commerce ou d’ingénieurs. Toutes les possibilités sont ouvertes aux salariés. Avec ou sans l’aval de l’employeur. Il faut le savoir et le faire savoir. Gwenole Guiomard, Rédacteur en chef d’emploipro, gguiomard@emploipro.fr.